Scaling Investments in Climate and Health: Launch of the Development Banks’ Joint Roadmap for Climate-Health Finance and Action

Climate change is the greatest threat to health and wellbeing facing the world in the 21st century. The climate crisis is estimated to push 132 million people into extreme poverty by 2030—one-third of these will be driven by the impacts of climate change on health alone. Despite the outsized impact, current investments in the nexus of climate change and health are extremely low.

To increase and prioritize investments at the scale needed to sustainably finance climate and health action, we need partnerships across institutional and sectoral boundaries to identify the most impactful and cost-effective solutions.

The Development Bank Working Group for Climate-Health Finance, established in July 2023, comprises Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) and Public Development Banks (PDBs). The goal of the group is to enhance its collective impact by supporting countries to respond to the health impacts of climate change and elevating the health sector's role in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

This event will introduce the new Roadmap for Climate-Health Finance and Action of the Development Bank Working Group. The roadmap outlines a common, strategic approach to urgently raise, prioritize, and drive climate and health commitments to finance a people-centered approach for climate and health action. The event will answer these questions:

• What is the impact of climate on health and poverty and why is there an urgent need for significant, coordinated investments in climate and health?
• What is the role and comparative advantage of development banks in mobilizing financial resources, technical expertise, and policy influence for climate and health action?
• What are key opportunities for innovation and co-investment in climate and health?

Scaling Investments in Climate and Health: Launch of the Development Banks’ Joint Roadmap for Climate-Health Finance and Action

(High-Level Agenda)

Development Banks’ Joint Roadmap for Climate-Health Finance and Action

June 2024

For the first time, eleven Multilateral and Public Development Banks have come together to optimize their efforts and maximize investments in climate and health. Together, the group has developed the Joint Roadmap for Climate-Health Finance and Action (PDF), which outlines a common strategy to urgently increase and prioritize investments responding to the health impacts brought about by climate change.

Report: Development Banks' Joint Roadmap for Climate-Health Finance and Action

With a focus on strong partnerships with governments, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders to tailor investments to specific country needs, the roadmap outlines six areas to guide this collective approach:

1. adopting a common understanding of climate-health investments; 
2. identifying country and regional vulnerabilities and needs;
3. building capacity in climate and health at the sub-national, national, regional, and global levels, including in the private sector; 
4. supporting country-tailored, evidence-based interventions; 
5. mobilizing synergistic financing; 
6. focusing on results, transparency and accountability.